We really do pull up our socks when it comes to making, preparing and dispatching the right socks for all of our customers. But have you ever wondered where the phrase ‘pull up your socks’ actually comes from?
The phrase is commonly associated with someone who needs to or already has put in extra effort either in their behaviour or their work to achieve a certain goal. For instance, if you were taking an english exam and you finding it particularly difficult, then I would say to you ‘pull your socks up so that you can pass the exam. The basic meaning is mostly based around encouraging someone to try harder no matter their ability at a particular activity. “If she pulls her socks up she could run for Great Britain one day” encourages someone to put more effort in so that they can be the best.
Other meanings could be attributed to people who actually keep their socks rolled down, so the call to ‘pull your socks up’ would be asking someone to literally pull their socks up and smarten up.
Where the phrase comes from is actually to have thought to have had its origins in the UK in the 1880’s. The phrase can be found from a cricket club report dated 1887 where a supporter encourages his team to pull their socks up. Another refers to the increase in drunkenness in Wales during the 1880’s during a trial where the crowd is constantly asking for Port. The speaker tells the crowd to stop being drunken fools and to pull their socks up. The meaning from the 1880’s still seems to be the same from the phrase that we use today.
Another origin is also credited from the british army. Soldiers, when they were away on duty would usually sleep in their full uniform including their boots and even their berets. When they were awoken, the commanding officer would order the soldiers to ‘pull your socks up!’ as this was the only thing the soldiers needed to do to be fully dressed.
There is no concrete origin to where the phrase pull your socks up comes from. However, the older sources we have that mention the phrase and the military example both point to the same meaning. The pull your socks up meaning encourages one to get up and achieve something, try extra hard to do it if you really have to. Get out of bed if you are in the military, get a higher score than your cricket team or even just pass that test. Put some effort in and pull your socks up.
If you are looking for some new socks to pull up and get yourself going then why not check out some of the styles we have to offer below, or find out more about the Sock Snob brand on the Sock Snob amazon brand page.
Connor Doughty